A pair of early 20th century buildings on the border between Koreatown and Westlake could be razed and redeveloped with a new apartment complex, according to an application submitted recently to the Los Angeles Department of City Planning.

View looking southwestMobbil, Inc.

Shahram Shamsian of EL Investment, LLC, which owns three parcels of land at 957-967 S. Arapahoe Street, is seeking approvals for the redevelopment of the site which is currently improved with five residential units. After razing the existing building, plans call for the construction of a new five-story edifice featuring 109 studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom dwellings above a 59-car garage.

While not specified in the entitlement application, the project relies on Transit Oriented Communities incentives to permit a larger, denser development than otherwise permitted by zoning rules. In exchange, 16 of the residential units are to be set aside for rent as affordable housing.

Engineering firm Mobbil, Inc. is serving as the project representative and architect for the Arapahoe Street development, which is depicted in renderings as a contemporary podium-type building with a street-level courtyard, multiple amenity decks, and a recreation room. Plans also call for balconies on most of the apartments.

957-967 S Arapahoe StreetGoogle Street View

The project site is located one block west of Hoover Street, and joins a handful of similar developments planned or underway on the eastern fringe of Koreatown. A tire shop was recently cleared for a mixed-use building at the intersection of Hoover and Leeward Avenue, and a 77-unit building is halfway finished just south of 8th Street.